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N.B.
Links in blue will work for you, but if they are red, then they will only work for me while in class.
Classes for next term are now live to be booked on to. Click Here to be taken to further information.
This post is for the French Beginners Class at the City of Portsmouth College (Highbury Campus) on Tuesday evenings from September to November 2023, 18:00 - 19:30.
26th September
3rd, 10th, 17th and 31st October (24th is half term)
7th, 14th, 21st and 28th November
5th December
To improve your listening and speaking skills in a social setting, why not come to the evening or afternoon events I organise in the city?
Tips for tuning your ear into French
Listen to French Music - Watch French TV series and films (or at least videos/news in French)
There is a lot of stuff online for the French language and learning (not all of it, correct!) The sites below are usually accessible for free and have French-language content.
Free sources for TV (you will need to put the subtitles on)
All 4 (Walter Presents on Channel 4 has some French Series among the many foreign series)
France 24 (online news 24/7 in French)
TV5 Monde (an online bank of Francophone TV and Film)
BBC iPlayer (often under BBC 4 programming)
Free Sources for Radio (tunes in your ear and your brain to the rhythm of French).
Radio.Garden (Sadly, since October 2022, the UK government has blocked this website for working outside the UK). However, click on the ellipsis (...). You can see the option to visit the website - click there, and you can go to the website - click on 'écouter la radio'. It gives all the France Bleu regional stations in France... then you can listen (this option will work on most radio stations based on 'Radio.Garden').
Find some Francophone music you like - there's an extraordinary amount out there, and all can be seen on YouTube whenever you like. I have written much more about French music here.
I will use some materials from the course book Entre Nous 1, aimed at the European Language Standards A1 (beginners). You may find it helpful to get a copy for home use and self-study.
This blog page will help you learn how to get all those accents on your various devices.
Gender of nouns - here is a blog post that may help.
mardi, 5 décembre
Classes for next term are now live to be booked on to.
Click Here to be taken to further information.
Ce soir dans l'est de la France, des enfants vont être ravis de leurs petits cadeaux reçus de la part de Saint Nicolas.
Une histoire des faits de Saint Nicolas.
Qui a des origines de Lorraine, d'Alsace ou du Nord, connait bien Saint Nicolas !
Et met le soir du 5 décembre les souliers devant la cheminée, avec une carotte (pour l'âne), pour y trouver le lendemain orange, chocolat et pain d'épices en Saint Nicolas !
La légende de Saint Nicolas, très populaire en Lorraine, Alsace, Belgique…
Mais quelle est son origine ?
St Nicolas était évêque de Myre en Asie Mineure et, à ce titre, il assiste et souscrit au concile de Nicée en 325. Il était réputé pour être bon envers les pauvres et les enfants"Le bon St Nicolas" est honoré dans de nombreux pays en Orient et Occident.
En Lorraine, un chevalier de Port, près de Nancy, a rapporté , fin XIè siècle, une relique du saint, qui serait à l'origine de miracles. La ville s'appelle depuis Port-Saint Nicolas. Des miracles et de sa bonté , sont nées de nombreuses légendes. En Lorraine, il est le saint patron des enfants, des écoliers. Près de la mer, il est le patron des marins. Il aurait sauvé 3 naufragés implorant son aide.
La légende de St Nicolas, une légende du moyen-âge.
La chanson serait du 16 siècle.
PAROLES: (c'est chanté par Henri Dès)
Ils étaient trois petits enfants
Qui s'en allaient glaner aux champs
Ils sont allés et tant sont venus
Que sur le soir se sont perdus.
Ils sont allés chez le boucher : "Boucher, voudrais-tu nous loger?"
"Entrez, entrez, petits enfants, Y'a de la place assurément."
Ils n'étaient pas sitôt entrés
Que le boucher les a tués,
Les a coupés en p'tits morceaux
Et puis salés dans un tonneau.
Saint Nicolas au bout d'sept ans
Vint à passer dedans ce champ,
Alla frapper chez le boucher : "Boucher, voudrais-tu me loger?"
"Entrez, entrez, Saint Nicolas, Y'a de la place, il n'en manque pas.
" Il n'était pas sitôt entré qu'il a demandé à souper.
On lui apporte du jambon. Il n'en veut pas il n'est pas bon.
On lui apporte du rôti. Il n'en veux pas, il n'est pas cuit.
"Du p'tit salé, je veux avoir
Qu'il y a sept ans qu'est au saloir."
Quand le boucher entendit ça, Bien vivement, il se sauva.
"Petits enfants, qui dormez là, Je suis le grand Saint Nicolas."
Le Grand Saint étendit trois doigts, Les trois enfants «ressuscita».
Le premier dit : "J'ai bien dormi."
Le second dit : "Et moi aussi."
A ajouté le plus petit: "Je croyais être au Paradis."
Ils étaient trois petits enfants Qui s'en allaient glaner aux champs.
mardi, 28 novembre
Classes for next term are now live to be booked on to.
Click Here to be taken to further information.
Tonight, we will look at shops and shopping in more detail in French.
From Entre Nous we will look at the sorts of shops in the local area.
«Quels sont les sommerces de votre quartier?»
We will then describe your local area in more than just lists of shops.
You might wish to use this as an example and next week, do a mini-presentation in French about your local area.
«Dans mon quartier on a pas mal de maisons et quelques appartements. Les maisons sont assez grandes dans ce quartier avec des fenêtres en saillie. On a deux pubs, un qui est grand et vend des repas et un autre plus petit 'du coin'. On a aussi deux superettes, beaucoup de vendeurs de plats à emporter comme une friterie, un pour les plats indiens et deux autres pour les plats chinois, une pizzeria et un fast-food pour les hamburgers, une petite poste et plusieurs coiffeurs pour les hommes et pour les femmes. Il y a aussi un marchand de tapis, une fleuriste, un salon de tatouage et quelques bureaux. Non loin, on a deux concessionaires de voitures d'occasion aussi, avec une pharmacie, un cabinet de dentiste et une autre superette Tesco. Il y un beau jardin public. C'est assez tranquille comme quartier sauf le bruit de la circulation et parfois des ambulances.»
mardi, 21 novembre
Classes for next term are now live to be booked on to.
Click Here to be taken to further information.
Tonight, we will look at how to talk in simple terms about the family in FRENCH.
See the video below (14 novembre) about 'Ma famille' number 4 for some more information.
You should be able to speak and write about your family. Perhaps you can prepare a mini presentation about your family.
mardi, 14 novembre
Tonight, from Entre Nous (P39-46) we will look at revising how to turn a sentence negative, revise possessive pronouns and possibly look at some elements of French Phonetics. Audio
Various grammar and vocabulary exercises from the book could be done for homework.
You may wish to complete a brief profile page based on those on page 35/36 of Entre Nous 1.
Beginners' Videos from the 1990s BBC - Quinze Minutes Plus First 4 are below - covering much of what we have and will cover in this 10 week course.
mardi, 7 novembre
Tonight, with Remembrance Day coming up this weekend, we will look a little at what the French and French Canadians do to mark the Armistice of 1918.
We will also look at some French Speaking people and their jobs from Entre Nous
Le jour du souvenir
mardi, 31 octobre
Halloween et La Toussaint Tonight, we will look at some words to describe things found around Halloween, and we will look at some prepositions to describe where things are in relationship to one another.
Some grammatical structures we have seen over the last half term (p23). P24 has a visit to Lille (see video below from October 17th). There are also some opinions on Paris.
La Toussaint
Halloween
mardi, 24 octobre
Tonight, it is half-term so do not come into the college, it will be locked!
mardi, 17 octobre
Classes for next term are now live to be booked on to. Click Here to be taken to further information.
Avez-vous un numéro fétiche? Vocabulaire de l'automne essential
Building on the last couple of weeks' introduction to the city of Caen and what there is to see in a town (housing and locations), we will look at what the course book Entre Nous wants to introduce us to this week.
They are using the city of Nantes over in the West of France, south of Brittany, but once was in Brittany before France annexed it.
You can see the course book here online.
We will then examine why people are learning French, some personal details and how to form the present tense of regular '-er' verbs... (the joy, the bliss!) and mention the reflexives (more joy!!).
Lille is also used in the course book.
mardi, 10 octobre
You might be able to say a few sentences about your town or city in response to this question...
<<Qu'est-ce qu'il y a dans votre ville? >> e.g. Voici... l'église, voilà... la suprette...
We will look at compiling << un portrait chinois >> for a little vocabulary building. We don't have a name for that in English; we do call a similar thing "20 questions".
Depuis le dossier de l'apprenant, vous feriez votre vision de la France, en parlant de vos opinions sur:
le petit déjeuner français, les films français, la gastronomie française, la France même, le sport français, et l'art français.
For your homework, you might want to write a little about yourselves.
You could start a document on your computer with the following information in French about yourselves and then add to it each time you learn a new item as a resumé of what you have learned. ( A google doc is a good idea if you know how to do one)
Introduce yourself, spell your name(s), say your nationality and how you feel, and give your birthday… Say where you live and what sort of things there are near your home...
e.g.
Je m'appelle ... ça s'écrit ... je suis de nationalité anglaise/britannique... ça-va bien merci et vous? J'habite à ... au sud d'Angleterre dans une maison au bord de la mer et près de chez moi il y a une boulangerie, une poste, trois superettes, un pub et un petit jardin public on a plusieurs commerces de vente à emporter par exemple; une friterie, deux restaurants chinois de plats à emporter, un restaurant indien de plats à emporter, quatre salons de coiffure dont deux barbiers, une pizzeria à emporter... .
Tuesday, 3rd October (mardi, 3 octobre)
For this lesson you might like to be ready to introduce yourself in French, giving your name, saying where you're from and when your birthday is...
Revisions l'alphabet et épeler vos noms, les noms de vos villes et lieux de naissance.
Revisons les chiffres entre 1 et 20.
Travel to France - Portsmouth is twinned with Caen, so we will look at what can be seen in Caen (basic vocabulary initially based on the course book Voilà).
The course book uses Nantes as an example, but Caen is linked by ferry to Portsmouth, and it is our twin city, for which I am the committee chair...
La Gastronomie de Caen
Revision
This very young French Teacher made these vlogs for his French beginners during the Coronavirus lockdown. However, he covers many of the things we covered in class today and last week, which can serve as a reminder!
In teacher training, they say if you do something at least 6 times, you might remember them!
He certainly seems to use that method... Here is his video for the places you might find in a town - if you need it...
Un peu d'humour français... Une réponse à la question brûlante...
Quelle est la date de ton anniversaire?
Tuesday, 26th September
We will answer the French questions for:
Who are you? Why are you learning French? What does France mean for you?
Qui êtes vous? Pourquoi apprenez-vous le français? Que signifie la France pour vous?
By the end of this session, you should be able to:
Introduce yourselves and spell your name (possibly the name of your street, city, or place of birth).
Can you give me your age? Your nationality? What about your occupation (i.e. student)?
What else?
What can you tell someone a little about French Grammar?
Gender, adjectives...?
Today, we will begin learning to speak, read and write in French and listen to French being spoken.
In the first class, we will introduce ourselves and find our reasons for learning French as we do not all know each other yet.
An earworm which will teach you the alphabet.
Another earworm for the months of the year...
This guy does a lot of beginner's videos... Now there's enthusiasm, and then there's ~Thomas!
He can, at least, serve as a reminder of the correct pronunciation, should you need one...
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Here are the Adult Education Dates for the Academic Year 2023-2024...
Autumn Term:
25th September 2023 - 7th November 2023 (Half term w/c October 23rd)
Spring Term:
8th January 2024 - 21st March 2024 (Half term w/c February 12th)
Summer Term:
15th April 2024 - 17th June 2024 (Half Term w/c May 27th)
N.B.
Links in blue will work for you, but if they are red, then they will only work for me while in class.
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